[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34321-34322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-13574]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Tonto National Forest, Phoenix, AZ, and Arizona State 
University, School of Evolution and Social Change, Phoenix, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the control of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 
Service, Tonto National Forest, Phoenix, AZ, and in the possession of 
Arizona State University, School of Evolution and Social Change, 
Phoenix, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from the Dugan Ranch Ruin, Yavapai County, AZ.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Arizona 
State University, School of Evolution and Social Change (formerly 
Department of Anthropology) professional staff and Tonto National 
Forest professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the 
Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona 
(collectively known as the ``Four Southern Tribes''); Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    In 1968 and 1969, human remains representing a minimum of 17 
individuals were removed from the Dugan Ranch Ruin [AZ O:13:0004 (ASU); 
AR-03-12-01-027] in Yavapai County, AZ. The site was excavated under a 
permit to the Southwestern Society for Indian Archaeology, Walnut City, 
CA, from the Tonto National Forest. The excavations were carried out by 
high school students from the Bassett Unified School District, Los 
Angeles County, CA, under the supervision of Charles H. Stephens. In 
the course of an investigation of the activities of Mr. Stephens by Law 
Enforcement officers of the Forest Service, the collections from the 
Dugan Ranch Ruin, including all excavated human remains and funerary 
objects, were recovered and transferred to the Department of 
Anthropology at Arizona State University for curation. No known 
individuals were identified. The approximately 50 associated funerary 
objects are pottery sherds.
    Dugan Ranch Ruin is a masonry room block with interior courtyards 
that was occupied principally in the Late Classical Period (A.D. 1300-
1400) and was associated with the Verde Hohokam archeological culture 
in central Arizona based on the ceramics, architecture, and 
organization of the site. Based on oral traditions and continuities of 
artifactual materials, technology and architecture, officials of the 
Tonto National Forest have determined that the Ak Chin Indian Community 
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River 
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and to, a lesser extent, 
the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico, have a shared group identity to the Native American human 
remains and associated funerary objects of the Hohokam archeological 
culture. In accordance with the Plan for the Treatment and Disposition 
of Human Remains and Other Cultural Items from the Tonto National 
Forest Pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (as revised in 2001), it has been determined that the 
primary cultural affiliation of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects is with the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa 
(Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of 
the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa 
Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona; and that they will be repatriated to the 
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona, as the designated representative of the ``Four 
Southern Tribes'' for NAGPRA issues north of the Gila and Salt River 
Baseline in Arizona, which area includes the location of Dugan Ranch 
Ruin.
    Officials of the Tonto National Forest have determined that, 
pursuant to 25

[[Page 34322]]

U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the 
physical remains of 17 individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Tonto National Forest also have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the approximately 50 objects 
described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or 
near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of 
the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of the Tonto National 
Forest have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between the Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects and the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River 
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and/or associated 
funerary objects should contact Dr. Frank E. Wozniak, NAGPRA 
Coordinator, Southwestern Region, USDA Forest Service, 333 Broadway 
Blvd., SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102, telephone (505) 842-3238, before July 
17, 2008. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt 
River Reservation, Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Tonto National Forest is responsible for notifying the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 21, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-13574 Filed 6-16-08; 8:45 am]
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